Cultural Change In The Office and COVID 19

Pandemics do come and when they come, they hit hard. They sometimes cause social changes in how we live and work. The pandemic of 1918 hit our largest cities hardest it killed amidst the squalor of crowded tenements and poor sewage systems of the day which already burdened communities with things like cholera. People died from influenza and the families could not bury their dead fast enough. Bodies were buried in mass graves as if in a war zone.

I am grateful that my parents’ generation avoided that and, that since they have both been gone for a decade or more now, that they did not have to live through this one.

As I often walk through the customer care departments on deliveries at Kolbe Windows where I work, I realize clearly how this pandemic, the fears, and the struggle to prevent its spread in the workplace. I see the emptiness of the office suits in Order Entry where workers once worked out the options with customers.

Working from home for professionals and clerical assistants is a new thing. For some, the internet is making that possible to be at home and still connected to your people. That is something not thought of as possible even a few years ago. One might question things like collaboration, teamwork, and the like. How do they work when one is isolated?

The technical side is as expected. Not all homes or apartments have viable spaces for home-based offices. Then there are issues with have secure internet connections with good speed and capacity as well as security. There are issues with forwarding packages and mail.

It will be interesting to see how this all works out…